Prayer Meeting Preparation

September 7, 2023

AUGUST 31, 2023 Last Edit

2nd DRAFT Editing in progress.

Do you have a prayer time with others scheduled?

“…your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.” Mtt 6.8 (NKJV)

Why do we pray?

One answer is that holy scripture supports prayer.

…in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; Philippians 4.6 (NKJV)

There is another reason we bring our concerns to God. To request a favor from a superior requires humility.

When we humble ourselves before God, albeit imperfectly in our pre-resurrection bodies, we are acknowledging Him as our creator, and us as the created. This is the prize core of prayer.

Sometimes we enter His presence through a state of prayer for other reasons:

To stand in awe of God and all that He has done for us.
To praise Him.
To seek His will.

Biblical Model from Psalm 22.3

You who fear the LORD, praise Him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify Him, And fear Him, all you offspring of Israel! “Psalm 22.23 (NKJV)

Psalm 22.3 applies to we who are in Christ.

Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh–who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands– 12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. [Eph 2:11-13 NKJV] (https://www.blueletterbible.org/tools/MultiVerse.cfm)

Why Prepare for a Prayer Meeting?

You may unintentionally violate the following verse if you do not prepare your heart for a prayer meeting.

And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. Matthew 6.5 (NKJV)

Preparing for a Prayer Meeting

Establish a private time of prayer.

“But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. Matthew 6.6 (NKJV)

A great example of Matthew 6.6, is recorded in the following verse.

The king answered Daniel, and said, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.” Daniel 2 (NKJV)

When you pray, do the following:

Acknowledge He is praiseworthy. Do not do this with a haughty spirit; humble yourself before God and praise Him.

Jesus said, “This is how you should pray: “Father, may your name be kept holy. Luke 11.2a (NLT)

When you pray, humble yourself before God and tell Him you are submitting to His will.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4.10 (NIV)

When you pray, humble yourself before God and acknowledge Him as the source of all that you control or depend upon.

(Luk 11:3) Give us each day our daily bread,

When you pray, humble yourself before God and apologize for any offenses to Him that you feel you have committed.

The goal is to have a clear conscience as soon as possible when you have entered His presence in prayer. If you are angry at someone who has hurt you, then in God’s presence, with Him as your witness, commit to forgive them.

…forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. Protect us from the evil one. Luke 11:4 Paraphrase

Make your requests known to God.

Best Practices

Perhaps your next prayer time with others will be impromptu, something you could not have foreseen.

Schedule regular, private prayer times. Do your routine praying in private, alone. If that is not possible, get out of sight of people who know you. For some people, another room works; perhaps a nearby park will be the venue.

Regular

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days. Daniel 6.10 (NKJV)

This section is titled best practices. Regardless of what you read here, if you have confirmation in your heart for a set of practices that deviate from here, then do what works.

Summary

Do what you must to assume a posture of humility.
For some people, merely setting aside regular time to present yourself to God will suffice.
Pray a few words that express humbleness before God, such as holding His name in respect (hallowed be thy name).
Express a humble demeanor by acknowledging that He is the source of life and provides all that is needed for life (our daily bread).
Continue, humbled before God, and express an intent to obey Him whenever you know His will (thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven).
If you know of a sin you believe you committed, apologize (forgive us our debts).
Finally, present prayers to Him for others, various needs, and wants.

Be still for the available time or until you sense a release. Maintain a posture of worship before Him. We all have different personalities, and we come from different cultures. Find a reason to be silent before the Creator as an act of praise, of worship.

So why is this preparation for a meeting with others?

Because prayer is the preparatory step for all else, after completing it, prayer is the meeting’s succeeding step. We pray for God to bless our preparation, and we pray for God to bless the specific elements that you have prepared, such as parts of a sermon or any other presentation. Finally, enter the meeting dependent on the Holy Spirit.

Bible Versions Quoted and Paraphrased

There were many factors influencing the choice of Bible versions. In a perfect world, we would be version agnostic; all versions available would be equivalent in meaning. In that scenario, our interpretation or paraphrasing of a verse into our own words would always be the same regardless of the version we were reading from. However, all human languages were broken and rendered imperfect at the Tower of Babel. Adding to the complication is that much scripture is inspired, not dictated. When dictated, the scribe records what they were told. For much of scripture, The Third Person of the Holy Trinity inspires the human author, and therefore, it will contain some linguistic and cultural idioms. The varying versions used in this document attempt to grasp the truth in wording that is easy to understand and supported by a well-accepted group of believers. This paragraph will be moved to an article which is in process.

I will use any creditable version of the Bible for fellowshipping with those who prefer one version to others.

Prayer, Meetings